All the Way Home

Shelle, our great PR manager at Soldiers' Angels sent this piece from a Chaplain in the Minnesota National Guard.

It Takes Communities To Bring Soldiers All The Way Home

I am watching the growing furor over the shortcomings in the Veterans Administration system and the fallout from Walter Reed Army Hospital with growing alarm. I am concerned that we are going to fix the crisis and forget the problem.

The problem is how to help warriors, and their families, successfully reintegrate back into our communities, and their homes, after combat. A portion of that problem is health care related. For a majority of combat vets, however, only a small part of their reintegration challenge has to do with health care for physical injuries. Behavioral and mental health are bigger issues. And for most, the biggest challenge is relational: rebuilding marriages, reconnecting with children, rejoining friends,
rejoining the global economy, getting back to the communities of faith we left, etc.

The problem with focusing on the VA is we may well fix the VA only to convince ourselves that the reintegration of our combat veterans is a government program, not a community process. If we expect the government to take care of everything, we will have failed our combat veterans and their families as well as ourselves.

We have sent our precious men and women to war. The VA can't bring them home. Only we can. We have a moral obligation to insure that all of our combat veterans come all the way home to their families, their jobs, their schools and their communities.

A government program can't do that. A community can.

That means each of us needs to roll up our sleeves and do more than castigate the VA. It means the following:

If you are a health care provider in Minnesota, do the right thing: Become a Tricare provider. Tricare is the insurance the government issues to mobilized reservists and guardsmen.

Two-thirds of Minnesota health care providers are not Tricare providers. The result: We do not have an in-patient chemical dependency treatment center in Minnesota that is a Tricare provider. We have a dire shortage of behavioral mental health providers who are Tricare providers. The VA can't fix this … we can.

If you are an educator, sign up for an Operation Military Kids workshop and learn about the daunting challenges our 7,000 Minnesota military kids face when their parent marches off to war, and when they return. Help our children while we are at war. Parent educators, we need you to offer classes in every school district in Minnesota, for military families. We need your help in learning how to parent our children again.

If you are a member of the clergy, learn all you can about the toll combat takes on marriages, families, mothers and fathers of military personnel. You don't have to support the foreign policy to pray for us while we are in harm's way and to visit our parents, our spouses and our children while we are gone. When we come home, we need your help in putting our marriages, families and lives back together.

If you are an employer, please give my spouse some grace. She or he is juggling a job, a family, a home and a huge heartache. There are no laws to protect them while we are at war, as there are to protect my job when I come back. They struggle mightily and may need some special attention and some extra time off. Do the right thing — help them.

If you are a social service provider, learn all you can about combat operational stress, the challenges of reintegration for combat veterans and the impact of war on the family system. You are our "first call for help;" don't fail us because you choose not to invest in your professional development.

If you are a politician, don't politicize the shortfalls in the VA or the military medical system. We aren't pawns in an election cycle; we are your constituents, and we are counting on you to fix the problems. Energize the community on our behalf to do right by us. We're not asking for showy programs. We are asking for tangible signs of support in terms of services offered.

If you are our neighbors, and you are, don't "victimize" us. Most combat veterans come home without PTSD, mental disorders, physical wounds or destroyed lives. We generally readjust well and go on to live productive lives. Expect great contributions to society from us. We won't disappoint you. Challenge us to greatness; we know how to serve.

Watch over our families while we are gone. Extend a warm welcome home when we return. Walk with us through the months of readjustment, and make a place for us in the community.

If we are among the tragic few who come home physically or mentally wounded, help us by connecting us to local, county, state and federal resources.

Certainly, address the problems with the VA, the military medical system and other systemic issues that face us.

But, above all … bring us all the way home.

A program can't do that. You can.

Major John Morris is a chaplain in the Minnesota Army National Guard. For more information about his and others' ground-breaking work on reintegrating returning soldiers, go to http://www.dma.state.mn.us/ and look for the "Beyond the Yellow Ribbon" link.


- May no soldier go unloved

Things to Read, Watch or Listen To

Soldiers' Angels Europe points to several excellent stories about our men and women in uniform.

Volunteer Navy nurses serve as Skyway Angels

AL TAQADDUM, Iraq (April 19, 2007) — The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines an angel as an attendant spirit or guardian.
In famous art, artists often depicted angels as human-like beings, with white robes and wings, serving as transporters of messages from other celestial beings.

Many seriously wounded service members in Iraq can testify angels aren’t always dressed in white. Several wear tan flight suits and their wings are merely the rotors of soaring aircraft.

These particular angels remain faithful to the Merriam-Webster definition by serving as attendant spirits, as well as guardians – guardians of life.

NFL Doc Saving Lives in Afghanistan

It’s a long way from small incision, computer-guided arthroscopic surgery on a linebacker’s knee to "blood, tissue, bones, everything blowing up in your face."

"I’m not used to people dying on me," the 37-year-old orthopedic surgeon said. "I’m seeing things I’ve never seen in my career. I’ve done more amputations in six months here than in my whole five years of residency," Slusher said.

And things aren’t likely to ease up during the second half of his yearlong tour with the U.S. Army’s 541st Forward Surgical Team.

Spouse Buzz: You Might Be a Military Wife If...

My first clue that things were going to be a little odd was while we drove home - about five hours from the airport where I picked him up. As we headed down the 99 in California (quite possibly the most boring drive on earth), my husband begin to randomly inject odd words into the conversation.
"Trash bag, right"
"Dog, straight ahead"
"Broken-down car, left"
"Excuse me, honey," I broke in after a few of these incidents. "But just WHY are you describing the scenery to me?"

Give This To My Daddy

Moving thru the terminal was a group of soldiers in their camo's, as they began heading to their gate everyone (well almost everyone) was abruptly to their feet with their hands waving and cheering. When I saw the soldiers, probably 30-40 of them, being applauded and cheered for it hit me. I'm not alone. I'm not the only red blooded American who still loves this country and supports our troops and their families.

Of course I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young unsung heroes who are putting their lives on the line everyday for us so we can go to school, work and home without fear or reprisal. Just when I thought I could not be more proud of my country or of our service men and women a young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old, ran up to one of the male soldiers. He kneeled down and said "hi," the little girl then she asked him if he would give something to her daddy for her.

(hat tip: Mudville Gazette)

Our Era's Greatest Generation - Reflection on Kansas National Guard Soldiers

Recently, while in Washington D.C. , I had the honor to visit our brave military men and women recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center . As I met those who had sacrificed their health for our country, I was reminded of the courage and bravery exhibited by members of the armed forces.

While there, I met two Kansas soldiers who had both suffered debilitating injuries – one a major head injury and the other a leg injury that led to amputation. I thought, before my visit, that they may be bitter.

Bitter at the situation, bitter at the war, or just plain bitter.

I quickly discovered there wasn’t an ounce of bitterness in either of them. Indeed, both mentioned what they wanted, perhaps more than anything else, was to be back in Iraq with their units. I was stunned and humbled by their commitment.

With the Peshmerga in Kirkuk (Iraq)

Where Kurdistan Meets the Redzone

I suggest reading these two posts because they show you the true separation and condition of parts of Iraq. In one part, extremely stable and prosperous. In another part, slightly scary and dangerous. In a third part, extremely dangerous and violent. There are pictures illustrating the differences and a video of the road trip through Kirkuk.

(hat tip: Mudville Gazette)

- May no soldier go unloved
Soldiers' Angels

Local Soldiers: First Female Brig. Gen for Kansas Air National Guard

KANSAS AIR GUARD COLONEL TO BE HONORED APRIL 3 FOR PROMOTION TO BRIGADIER GENERAL RANK
Col. Deborah Rose, vice commander of the Kansas Air National Guard’s 190th Air Refueling Wing, will be pinned as a brigadier general on Tuesday, April 3. The pinning will take place during a special ceremony at 11 a.m. in the Kansas Senate chamber. Rose was confirmed by the Kansas Senate on March 20 by a 40-0 vote.

Other news of the Kansas National Guard.

- May no soldier go unloved